The short-term California safety-net system has been overwhelmed in recent days with applications from restaurant workers and others who have been laid off as a result of the virus. Sycuan Casino Resort also pledged to continue paying its employees during the hiatus, with no disruption to their accrued vacation and sick time and no curtailment in their medical and dental benefits.īut other casinos directed employees to begin filing for state unemployment benefits.

“These are unprecedented times and as one united family we will navigate through this pandemic together.”

“Barona is our home and our staff members and players are our family,” Barona Tribal Chairman Edwin “Thorpe” Romero said in a statement Wednesday. It not only affects the poker rooms, blackjack tables and slot machines that subsist on the whims of hundreds of thousands of gamblers, it also affects scores of bars, restaurants, gift shops and other businesses that rely on the 24-hour foot traffic.Īt least one casino pledged to continue paying its workers their regular salaries and benefits during the length of the temporary shutdown. The mass closure of most of San Diego County’s gaming sector exacerbates an already tense economic climate for the region and beyond. Overnight hours have been curtailed from midnight to 8 a.m. The Golden Acorn Casino & Travel Center, located just off Interstate 8 in East County, suspended shuttle service and closed restaurants and table games.īut the Boulevard area gaming entrance remains open for slot-machine play and other activities on a limited schedule, according to its website. Valley View and Pala casinos previously announced temporary shutdowns as a result of the public health threat posed by COVID-19, which has been spreading exponentially across San Diego and California in recent days.

Harrah’s Resort Southern California near Valley Center closed its doors Monday for two weeks but currently plans to reopen March 30.

The simultaneous lockdowns follow the temporary closures of other local casinos early this week.Ĭasino Pauma announced its shutdown last Sunday until further notice.

Pala casino shuttle